INTELIHEALTH - A nasal spray instead of a numbing injection? It might happen at the dentist's office in the future.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo tested a nasal spray to see if it was safe and effective for numbing teeth. The study included 45 people. All of them needed a filling in an upper tooth.

Thirty people got the numbing nasal spray, plus a placebo (empty) injection. Fifteen people got a numbing injection and a placebo nasal spray.

The spray worked in 83% of the people who got it. The others needed to be given a standard numbing injection as well. The researchers had predicted that the spray would work in only 30% of people.
There were no side effects or problems with the spray. Next, the researchers plan to test it in a larger group of people.

The study appears in the July issue of the Journal of Dental Research.